Spirit Trials
by Turtle-Wax-On
Summary: Spirit Detective Yusuke Urameshi has been detained by the S.D.I. A group previously unheard of till now. Koenma has requested that the eloquent and shrewd red haired fox, Kurama, assist in the matter of a Spirit Trial, in order to rescue Yusuke.


**Author's notes**:

The idea hit me all of a suddenly, I'm not even sure where the inspiration came from. Hopefully I've thought it all out properly and can deliver an exciting fix.

If I have portrayed falsely the personalities of any character, my sincere apology... If you point them out, I shall see to it that it shan't happen again.

Enjoy =P

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**Case Log 1: The S.D.I.**

With his vibrant red hair flowing into the burning mid-day sky, Botan led Kurama to spirit world. The place was hectic as usual. Ogres roamed about frantically, working to the rhyme of Master Koenma's tongue lashing. The paper work needed for human deaths wasn't easy. Weighing the good and the bad karma of a person's life was very difficult. A person's initial intentions were toilsome to track. Nevertheless, it had to be done.

A course metallic sound followed the opening of the twin doors to Koenma's office. There the little toddler with the "Jr" mark on his forehead sat, his large head rested nonchalantly upon his left hands while mindlessly stamping away sentences to the souls of the dead.

"Here he is, Koenma sir." Botan informed energetically.

Koenma's daze broke as he noticed Botan and Kurama approached him. With his baby eyes revitalized with their sight, he began at Kurama, "Oh yes, you've finally made it."

"Yes, Botan informed me of your desire to see me." Kurama replied in a calm and thoughtful manner that was reserved only to him.

"Good. Thank you, Botan. That will be all. Go check on Yusuke now. See if he's staying out of trouble." Koenma nodded to Botan, as she respectfully bowed and obeyed his command. Returning to Kurama the toddler asked, "Do you know of the S.D.I.?"

Kurama's arms folded upon his cheat as he titled his head and pondered the question. Bring back his emerald eyes from the corner and fixing them upon Koenma, he speculated, "Spirit Detective Investigators?"

"Yes, they are the S.D.I.," Koenma reassured, "A bunch of independent hooligans – who somehow got my father to sign off a bill to form such a group – evaluating Yusuke Urameshi's competency of being a Spirit Detective. What a bunch of nonsense! Worst of all, if that idiot of a detective gets a low rating, the weigh will be on me. ME! My dad's going to take his belt and give it a new home on my toshie!" Koenma was in a state of dismay and worry. He lost his upfront maturity and steadiness and began to weep about the punishment he would receive form his father, King Yama. His hands and legs where kicking everywhere, and at the same time still cursing and hoping that Yusuke would pass the evaluation.

Kurama stood there, a bit embarrassed to see Koenma like this. However, at the same time, his mind began working, trying to figure out what obstacles would cause Yusuke to receive a low rating.

Ogre quickly ran to Koenma's side trying to calm the toddler down, but to no avail. Suddenly, Koenma noticing he had company in front of him, quickly regained control and reprimanded the Ogre for troubling him and allowing him to bawl like he did. The toddler immediately cleared his throat and resumed to his business with Kurama. "Anyhow, why have I summoned you here? These evaluations of Yusuke are very similar to a tribunal in the living world, otherwise known as a trial. Before, it wasn't a trial. It used to be only a board of three members, chosen by my father, King Yama. The S.D.I. officer would then provide facts to the board of what the current spirit detective had done over the course of his work. If the detective's work was admirable and the board found him to be an asset to Spirit world, then the detective would pass the exam."

Koenma's head fell a bit in disappointment. "However, those days have long past. The S.D.I. started to grow feeble because every detective seemed to have passed the examination with perfect scores. The existence of the S.D.I. slowly started to become useless. So the S.D.I. began to find new ways to stay alive. One was by presenting mainly the downfalls and flaws of each and every current spirit detective. So over the centuries, the evaluation board system became a tribune, very similar to a trial in the living world. Basically, there are still three judges that oversee such a trial, which has two sides – the plaintive and the defendant. S.D.I. of course is the plaintive, and they will present many facts of what the current spirit detective has done. No doubt the facts are biased towards the spirit detective's flaws. However, the spirit detective has a chance to put his word in. This is where you come in Kurama."

"To be Yusuke's attorney at the trial," Kurama stated, predicting what Koenma had in mind.

"Yes." Koenma nodded. "As you well know, Yusuke is doing a...he's doing an okay job as a detective..." Koenma paused. "But that idiot can't follow my orders correctly! He always finds a way to do things his way, thus creating problems. I need a good lawyer for him – someone with your talents and wits. So will you be Yusuke's spirit attorney?"

"Very well, anything to help Yusuke and spirit world." Kurama acknowledged.

Swing his chair to face the wall behind him, Koenma added, "You should also know that I sent Botan to look and see how he was doing. S.D.I. required that each spirit detective undergoing evaluation needed to be confined. So that he could be interviewed by the prosecutor, as well as, taboo the detective from adding any more facts to the list gathered. So, I think their interviews with Yusuke should be over by now. Why don't you go prepare your client for what he has ahead of him."

Kurama bowed, and then turn to the twin doors exiting the room.

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"Yusuke! Yusuke! Yusuke where are you!" shouted Kayko. She frantically searched his house, still in her schoolgirl uniform, indicating she had just left school. Kayko planned to meet up with our spirit detective before school on the roof to give him his lunch and the homework that he had asked her to do for him because he had been pooped from the Dark Tournament. However, he never showed up. The entire day Kayko thought and worried about Yusuke. She was also quite angry that he had stood her up and broke his promise about attending school. Yusuke's mother let Kayko in to search the house. His mother didn't even notice he was gone. Kayko searched the house top to bottom with her right hand flexed ready to give that boy a good slap across the face.

"Yusuke..." Kayko's voice softened and his name lingered the house. She was very worried. Recalling her day, she didn't see Puu at her window. She shrugged it off as nothing to worry about, but now she wish she had caught it. It was like Yusuke to disappear without her, but not like Puu. Something must have happened she thought. She dropped all her stuff in Yusuke's room and began running to Kuwabara's house, hoping to find answers. "Maybe Kuwabara or Shizuru might have heard something..."

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"Where is that guy! He's supposed to come hang out with me after school! Damn you Urameshi!" Kuwabara fumed as he paced the school yard with his hands in his pocket, slouching. "If I get my hands on him for standing me up...I'll beat him to a pulp! I opened my schedule for him. I coulda been feeding my kittens right now. Urameshi! Where are you?!"

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Like a stealthy fox, he gentle climbed down the stairs to the cellar. He was wearing his maroon red school uniform, which matched his hair perfectly. He also had been at school. Botan, disguised in a typical schoolgirl outfit, approached him during his lunch period, telling him of how Koenma required his assistance ASAP. He was well equipped for the job at hand, to be Yusuke's spirit attorney.

"Good to see you fox-boy. Hope they aren't evaluating you too." Yusuke shot cheerfully.

"Good to see you as well Yusuke. Has Botan filled you in?" Kurama inquired turning to Botan, then back to Yusuke.

"Yes I have. He's still very bitter about it." She replied, ever so perky.

"Yeah well, you and JUNIOR up there didn't give me the heads up about this!" Yusuke argued.

Turning in the defense, Botan answered, "Well, we were required not to tell you. It was supposed to be something of an unexpected investigation. Our hands were tied..."

Resentful, Yusuke retreated to the bench in his cell and huffed.

"Anyhow, I'm glad to know that you know of the situation at hand." Kurama resumed. "As your spirit attorney..."

"HA, you're my spirit attorney?! I'm for sure going to win the trial!" Yusuke busted out with glee.

A bit embarrassed, Kurama cautioned, "Well, let's not celebrate yet. This is my first experience as an attorney. However, I shall assure you I will give it my best. Now come, we have a few things to discuss like our defense...though it is hard to defend against something we haven't yet seen. It might be best to wait for them to make a move. That way, we can better assess the problem and create a strong argument."

The plan was set. All three nodded. They continued to talk about the situation, trying to predict what the S.D.I. would bring out as their opening attack on our spirit detective. This was a new challenge for the spirit detective. Kurama's plan seemed sound – to try out the waters first before diving in head first.


End file.
